Chapter 24 A promising young man

Chapter 24

Wen Yining couldn't fall back asleep as soon as she opened her eyes. Her stomach was really upset, so she got up and went to the table to boil some hot water. When she got there, she didn't see a kettle, but she did see a small water dispenser.

She then discovered that the star-rated hotel was different from the ones she had stayed in before. Hot water was available in the room 24 hours a day. When she got the hot water, she saw a small sign next to it that said the hot water was provided by a certain brand of mineral water and that she could drink it without worry.

After drinking the hot water, she lay back down, gazing at the intricate crystal chandelier above her head, her thoughts churning. She thought about many things; the night was too quiet, and the whole room felt extravagant.

Suddenly, it feels like an unreal dream, increasingly detached from her previous life, unlike anything she had lived in the past 18 years.

She seemed to have become unlike herself; she was like someone standing in a thick fog, unable to see the road ahead or even herself.

After an unknown amount of time, there was a sudden noise at the door in the long-silent room. Wen Yining sat up abruptly from the sofa, quickly put on her shoes, and just as she stood up, she saw Li Changjing coming from the other side.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

I was startled, thinking it was some kind of bad guy.

"How did you get in without a room key?"

He ignored her question.

Li Changjing's gaze swept over Wen Yining, who was standing in front of the sofa. He was somewhat surprised to see that her eyes were clear and her expression had returned to normal. Her gaze towards him was indifferent, and the dependent and innocent look in her eyes when she looked at him earlier had completely disappeared.

"Awake?"

Because she had forgotten most of what happened back then, Wen Yining nodded frankly.

Li Changjing walked past her into the bathroom to wash his hands. The door was open, and the sound of running water could be heard from inside. One side of his straight black trousers was visible in front of the sink. He came out quickly.

His voice was a little hoarse: "Why don't you go to sleep?"

Wen Yining sat back on the sofa, her voice a little hoarse from staying up all night and vomiting: "I couldn't sleep, so I was waiting for you."

Li Changjing glanced down at his watch, seemingly a little surprised, but his tone was as calm as ever, sounding like a question, "Waited for 4 hours?"

Wen Yining nodded, then shook her head. "No, I was so sleepy that I took a nap in the middle."

I don't know which word tickled Li Changjing's funny bone, but as he looked at her, he suddenly laughed. It seemed a little funny, and there was something else I couldn't quite put my finger on.

Wen Yining had never understood Li Changjing. She quickly recalled what he had just said, looked at him blankly, and asked, "Isn't this funny?"

He walked over and sat down about an arm's length away from her. He took off his glasses, leaned back on the sofa, closed his eyes, pressed his temples, and had a faint smile on his lips.

Perhaps due to exhaustion, Li Changjing's usually narrow, double-lidded eyes now showed more pronounced double eyelid creases, and his voice was low as it rang out in the quiet of the night.

"When I left just now, I shook hands with two senior colleagues in their fifties and said thank you for your hard work. Actually, they were just sitting in the office drinking tea and giving orders to their subordinates. They told me that it was all part of their job and there was no need to say it was hard work. As long as the work is done well, all the effort is worthwhile."

After hearing so many ambiguous and insincere answers that never provide any real substance, I was momentarily speechless when I came across her honest response.

Wen Yining understood. She thought for a moment and said, "Yeah, how can I sleep if you don't come back?"

Li Changjing closed his eyes and curled the corners of his mouth: "A promising young man."

Wen Yining looked at his profile and emphasized, "I'm serious."

He laughed, looking very gentle, with a hint of weariness in his eyes. He opened his eyes and naturally put his arm around her, as if they were an old married couple who had done it many times before.

Wen Yining unconsciously tensed her shoulders, her upper body stiff and straight as she leaned against him, feeling his chin resting on the top of her head, which felt a little heavy and a little painful.

They've been together for over a month, but she still can't help feeling nervous and embarrassed about his intimacy.

A blurry fragment she had forgotten flashed before her eyes, and she suddenly remembered that when she was drunk, she seemed to have hugged him like this in public.

"..."

I belatedly realized it and blushed a little.

Li Changjing's tired yet deep voice, tinged with laughter, came from above, "As expected of a top student in the literature department, Ningning, once you graduate, you'll definitely be a good subordinate that your superiors like."

He assumed that her emphasized "really" was also a way of continuing to lie to him.

Wen Yining leaned on his shoulder, looking at the painting on the wall without saying a word.

But she was really serious.

Why do I always feel that others are being insincere?

He seemed a little tired, and just held her like that for a while without saying a word.

In the quiet night, there is a gentle and tender feeling.

Although Li Changjing never explicitly expressed his likes or dislikes towards anyone or anything, Wen Yining could sense that he had a somewhat difficult-to-please young master personality. He disliked not wanting to stay outside, so after letting go of her, he turned around, picked up his glasses from the side, put them back on, and was about to take her back.

Wen Yining followed behind him with great agreement.

After getting on the bus, Li Changjing remained seated and didn't say a word the entire time.

As they approached his house, the driver parked the car in the parking space, seemingly not planning to leave. Only then did Wen Yining realize something was wrong; it turned out that when he said "go back," he meant taking her back to his house.

Staying in a hotel is fine, but staying overnight at someone of the opposite sex's house is...

Wen Yining looked at the driver who had already turned off the engine, then weakly turned to look at Li Changjing who had opened the car door and gotten out: "I still want to go back to school..."

He glanced at her, scoffed, and said, "What are you afraid of? Do you think I'd eat you? Get down."

Wen Yining frowned and subconsciously gripped the seat. "But I..."

Li Changjing slammed the car door shut, walked over without a word, opened the door, grabbed her arm, and pulled her out.

Wen Yining had no choice but to get out of the car, looking up at him and stammering, "But, I feel like I'm letting my mother down like this..."

Upon hearing this, Li Changjing thought he had misheard for a moment. His tired expression froze for a moment. He looked down at Wen Yining for a few seconds, then took off his glasses and couldn't help but press his temples, his expression a mixture of exasperation and amusement.

I patiently explained to her, "It's two o'clock now. If you suddenly go back at this time reeking of alcohol, won't you wake up your new roommates to open the door for you? Don't you think they'll hold a grudge? Won't this cause some bad rumors about you?"

Wen Yining knew this, but she couldn't smell any alcohol on herself, and it wasn't as serious as Li Changjing thought. Hearing him say this, she hesitated.

Li Changjing pulled her upstairs, and she stopped struggling.

This was the first time she had come after dark. Remembering what Liu Hengheng had said about only Li Changjing and the bodyguard on duty staying here at night, Wen Yining couldn't help but turn her head to look around. Only dim yellow lights were on in the whole building, and the quiet of the daytime turned into loneliness in the dead of night.

She met four different bodyguards each time, and today it was Luo Hao.

Wen Yining was staying in a guest room on the second floor. Thinking about what he had said about her "reeking of alcohol," she forced herself to stay awake and washed, wrung out, and hung the clothes in the bathroom to dry.

Perhaps she was too tired, or perhaps her home didn't feel like home at all, especially the guest rooms, which felt more like a hotel. She didn't feel anything special and fell asleep quickly.

Fearing that Aunt Liu might misunderstand if she saw it the next day, she got up early the next morning, sent a message to Li Changjing, and ran away.

*

Teaching Liu Hengheng on Saturdays and weekends is usually a rush, but during holidays when there's plenty of free time, it becomes much easier.

Summer tutoring jobs are harder to find than during the summer. Wen Yining took on a few small jobs from her senior classmate, creating test papers for elementary school students. They were always in a hurry, and if they were arranged in the evening, they would be needed by noon the next day. As a result, Wen Yining almost wore out the textbooks of Beicheng Elementary School. She has been so busy these past few days that she has been working day and night.

Fortunately, hard work pays off. The feedback from the senior students who sent the orders was always very good, so I introduced her to several more orders.

Saturday.

When she got out of the car, Wen Yining saw Aunt Liu leading two people into the house in the yard. She glanced at them curiously but didn't pay any attention.

During class, short, intermittent piano notes could be heard from next door.

Liu Hengheng said absentmindedly, "The piano repairman is here."

When class ended, Wen Yining walked out with her bag on her back. Just as she stepped out of the room, Li Changjing came in from outside.

She was incredibly busy, and Li Changjing was just as busy. After she left early last time, the two of them hadn't seen each other for several days.

Author's note: I didn't write enough words today, I'll try to write more tomorrow.